It has been a very long time since I read Vonneguts Slaughter House Five but did Desmonds flashes remind anyone of that? Thoughts on this are much appreciated.:eek2: You might find this link interestin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_House_Five

It has been a very long time since I read Vonneguts Slaughter House Five but did Desmonds flashes remind anyone of that? Thoughts on this are much appreciated.:eek2: You might find this link interestin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_House_Five


This was my first thought as well, that Desmond had become unstuck in time.

The most interesting parallel in that link was this: though it's hinted towards the end that his surviving a plane crash left him with mild brain damage) so he randomly and repeatedly visits different parts of his life, including his death.

Having just finished this book, I can certainly see the correlation, but I suppose my criticism re: this link lies within the inherent meaning behind Vonnegut's book: I took his message to be one of the inevitability of mental-instability following the inhumane conditions of war (I sincerely apologize if my interpretation of the book is far off, like I said, I just finished it, haven't had time to follow up on the Cliff's notes--I am a LOST fan, only so much time!!)

Desmond, unlike the hero (or anti-hero if you want to be technical) of Slaughterhouse, only traveled to *one* particular time frame of his past, not random times over the course of his life (of course, who knows what the writers have in store for us?)

If this travel-ability had anything to do with the key-turning/implosion of the hatch (as TPTB would have us believe), I'm not sure I would be so quick to connect it to such a vastly different perspective such as Slaughterhouse, then again... what do I know?

What has this show done to me....? :biggrin:

This is the exact same thing I was thinking after he turned the key

"Desmond Hume has come unstuck in time..."

Maybe Tralfamadorians will show up on the island sometime, too.

Ladyj27,I think that Desmond being stuck in that hatch for years and pressing that button every 108 minutes is pretty inhumane. Desmond was completely insane when we first met him. When he returned in the sailboat, He was still totally out of it. He always seems to keep the survivors in his peripheral vision. He rarely joins in and Desmond refers to the Others as Hostiles. In many ways I believe he is at war, and like Billy Pilgrim the biggest conflict is in himself.

Yeah, baby. Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time!

Billy Pilgrim relives moments from his life,
exactly the way they were lived out the first time around.

'How-how does the Universe end?' said Billy.
'We blow it up, experimenting with new fuels for our flying
saucers. A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses a starter button, and the
whole Universe disappears.' So it goes.
``If You know this," said Billy, 'isn't there some way you can
prevent it? Can't you keep the pilot from pressing the button?'
``He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him"
and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way.' (Vonnegut p. 117)


Brilliant!
I love when the LOST writers borrow from the best of sci-fi.
This season is going to rock!!

Quite a few parallels between Billy Pilgrim and Desmond David Hume, not sure what it all means but I think this episode is very significant in the mythology.

my brain hurts.

Now I have to go to the library and find yet anOTHER LOST related book!

I guess it's better than sitting in front of the computer all day....

Just think us losties will be the most well read tv fans in history. lol

my brain hurts.

Now I have to go to the library and find yet anOTHER LOST related book!

I guess it's better than sitting in front of the computer all day....

Well worth it. It is a quick read, and also one of the great works of modern American fiction.

holy crap i have to get an exemplar of that book!! iam livin about 3 miles away from dresden. by the way greats from germany.......

Totally was reminded of Slaughterhouse Nr.5 when I saw the eppy - it's one of my all time favourite books out there, so I didn't mind this correlation at all, though :)

Slaughterhouse is one of my favorite books... I haven't read it in years but it's effects still live with me. While I think the effect of war on Billy Pilgrim is a major theme, I do believe the role of fate, predestination and free will are much bigger themes within which the effects of war find a place.

One of the often repeated lines in the book is "so it goes" which the narrator says everytime something dies, even if it's a bug getting accidentally stepped on of whatever. People interpret that line and everything else in the book in millions of ways (much like LOST!) but the way I took it was how we approach our lives when tragedy and death are inevitable. How do we find hope and meaning in a world where death is not just inevitable but seemingly meaningless... and I feel that Pilgrim found a way to scratch out hope from hopeless circumstances. A lot of it is a matter of perspective and in the way that Vonnegut orders his scenes together.

I think they couldn't have Desmond be "unstuck in time" throughout his entire life... though there are examples, such as him painting the hatch mural and him telling Jack that maybe he did heal Sarah. I think he realized he was unstuck only from concussion to concussion in the flashback and then after he turned the failsafe key.

Well worth it. It is a quick read, and also one of the great works of modern American fiction.

I'll go a step further and recommend anything and everything by Vonnegut!!! By far my favorite author, a Lost fan will no doubt love his work!

I first started with "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse." a collection of short stories... great stuff!

I thought of the book when I saw the episode. Now lets wait to see if we see someone reading it on Lost.

I started another thread related to Vonnegut's "Timequake". And I think there are definite similarities between the way Lost tells its stories and Vonneguts style of writing. His books (most of them) are not linear and they jump back and forth in time.

My personal favorites:

1. Breakfast of Champions
2. Slaughterhouse Five
3. Hocus Pocus
4. Cat's Cradle
5. Mother Night

And "Fates Worth Than Death" is a must for anyone who feels like they need to know more about this amazing writer.